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The seasons were changing. When Tatsumi was first summoned to this world, it was the Season of the Sea—spring—but now, as the cycle had turned, it had entered the Season of the Evening Moon—winter.

The ordinary houses in the royal capital of Levantis were built by stacking what looked like reddish-brown bricks. As a result, the capital’s appearance was generally reddish-brown, but now that snow had accumulated, it was dyed entirely white.

And it wasn’t just the capital’s appearance that had changed.

Tatsumi’s daily life, too, had changed drastically from what it had been.

.

Having been officially recognized as a soldier priest, his status as a priest had risen from junior priest to senior priest.

Since a junior priest is, in a sense, an apprentice, Tatsumi was now officially recognized as a full-fledged priest.

Along with this, the priestly robes and sacred insignia he wore were changed to those indicating a senior priest. However, aside from the sacred insignia, he had surprisingly few opportunities to actually wear the new priestly robes.

This is because Tatsumi, now a soldier priest, often wears armor inside the temple.

Chain mail reinforced at key points and engraved with the sacred seal of the god Savaiv, signifying his status as a soldier priest. Since plate armor is worn only by squad leaders among the soldier priests, all rank-and-file soldier priests are armed the same way as Tatsumi.

And at his waist was a sword. This, too, was a symbol of his status as a soldier priest.

Needless to say, Calcedonia was gazing at Tatsumi in awe as he stood there in his soldier priest attire—wearing armor bearing the sacred seal and a sword at his waist.

.

All of Tatsumi’s peers, including Tatsumi, had passed the graduation exam.

The four other than Tatsumi were each assigned to one of the five squads.

The reason Tatsumi wasn’t assigned to a squad like Barse and the others was that he would be serving not as a standard soldier priest, but as an exorcist.

Because of this, he would need to gain experience not only in fighting humans but also in battling mabeasts.

Tatsumi would likely accept requests to exterminate mabeasts—either alone or in small groups, just as the ordinary mabeast hunters—and gain experience by confronting them.

Although this meant he was effectively taking a different path from his friends, it couldn’t be helped as long as becoming an Exorcist remained Tatsumi’s goal.

Sometimes he’ll continue his martial arts training alongside the soldier priests, and other times he’ll receive magic lessons from Giuseppe and Calcedonia.

When he returns home, Calcedonia greets him with a smile every day; he savors the meals she prepares, and after warming up in the bath, he climbs into bed with her.

Incidentally, ever since he discovered that sleeping while hugging Calcedonia from behind—as if wrapping his arms around her—somehow made her sleep more soundly, Tatsumi has made it a point to sleep in that position every night.

It was, after all, the season when snowflakes were dancing through the air. Feeling each other’s body heat comfortably, the two of them slept soundly every night.

Though Tatsumi was leading a busy yet fulfilling life, the shadow of someone who would cast a ripple across those days was also beginning to emerge, little by little.

.

“You’re that guy named Tatsumi, right?”

He had just finished his daily duties and was on his way home from the temple. Suddenly addressed from behind, Tatsumi reflexively turned around.

There stood three large men of unsavory appearance—the very type one would expect to be thugs or hoodlums.

Flaunting fists as thick as clubs and as large as hammers, the three men approached Tatsumi.

“We’ve got something to talk about, you know?”
“Talk…? What do we even have to talk about? I don’t think I’ve ever met any of you before, have I?”

As Tatsumi eyed the men suspiciously, they grinned and stood in a circle around him.

“True, this is our first time meeting, but hey, we won’t keep you too long. It’s just… this isn’t the right place. Come with us for a bit.”

Casually slinging their thick arms around Tatsumi’s shoulders, the men led him away.

Their gaze was fixed on a dimly lit alley. Apparently, the “talk” they mentioned was the kind that had to be conducted out of public view.

To an outside observer, it looked like a young man being hassled by a group of unsavory-looking men. Passersby cast curious or concerned glances at Tatsumi and the others, but no one attempted to intervene. Everyone must have keenly sensed the aura of violence emanating from the men.

If Tatsumi had been wearing the armor that served as proof of his status as a soldier priest, the reactions of the men and those around him might have been a little different.

But walking outdoors in metal armor during this cold season was simply too harsh. Even with layers of clothing underneath, the ice-cold armor mercilessly sapped his body heat.

For that reason, Tatsumi wore thick winter clothing on his way to and from the temple, reserving his armor for use only within the temple itself.

The men practically pushed Tatsumi from behind, forcing him down an alley. But the Tatsumi of today was not the same as the one who had just arrived in this world.

Even as they pushed him, he calmly observed the men’s movements. Apparently, they thought Tatsumi was cowering in fear and had completely let their guard down.

Tatsumi seized the moment when they were off guard and effortlessly broke free from their encirclement. As if fleeing from them, he dashed into the alleyway they had been trying to drag him into.

“W-wait a minute, you b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲!!”
“What an idiot. He ran right into the alley all on his own!”

The men had shown a moment of panic when Tatsumi escaped, but seeing that he’d run into the alley of his own accord, they gave a smug grin and set off in pursuit.

And then, just as the men stepped into the alley… Tatsumi was nowhere to be seen.

“W-where the hell did he go!?”

The dimly lit alley stretched straight back into the darkness. And there was nowhere in this alley to hide.

If he’d fled to the far end of the alley, they’d at least be able to see his back.

Yet, Tatsumi was nowhere to be found.

In stark contrast to their previous nonchalant attitude, the men now searched for Tatsumi with a look of panic on their faces.

They scanned their surroundings, but Tatsumi was still nowhere to be found.

“Damn it!! Is he at the end?”
“Where else he coulda gone?!”
“That guy’s a rat—fast on his feet!”

Hurling insults at one another, the men ran off down the alley in search of Tatsumi.

.

“What’s their deal?”

Looking down at the men scurrying away, Tatsumi muttered to himself.

He was perched on the roof of one of the buildings lining the alley, his body half-buried in the accumulated snow.

The moment he dashed into the alley and slipped out of the men’s line of sight, Tatsumi had teleported upward, scanned the rooftops from above, moved back onto one of them, and then lay low in the snow while keeping an eye on the men.

He had teleported upward because the rooftops were invisible from the alley.

Naturally, Tatsumi had no idea why men like that would be after him.

So, was he just a random target for a mugging or extortion, someone they happened to single out?

No, those men knew Tatsumi’s name. In other words, they had business with Tatsumi specifically.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’d better be careful for a while. I’ll let Chiiko and Giuseppe know about this, too.”

Fearing the men might return, Tatsumi lay low on the roof and kept watch for a while. But in the end, they never came back.

“…I guess I’ll head home. It’s just going to be cold if I stay here any longer…”

Shivering, Tatsumi stood up and brushed the snow off his body. Then, he teleported directly to a distant roof within his line of sight.

Just to be safe, he continued teleporting from roof to roof as he made his way home.

.

Around the time Tatsumi was having that encounter…

Giuseppe, the Supreme Pontiff of the Temple of Savaiv, was visiting a certain person.

“It’s been a long time. I heard from Calcie that you’d been unwell? Are you feeling better now?”

Led into a room kept at a warm, comfortable temperature by a roaring fire in the hearth, Giuseppe was reunited with an old friend.

“Yes. Thanks to Calcie’s magic, I’ve been able to see your old, wizened face once again.”
“What nonsense. We’re both getting old, aren’t we?”
“Hehe. You’re right about that.”

Although they were trading barbs, both of their expressions looked genuinely cheerful.

They must be very close indeed to be able to exchange such banter so casually.

“So? What brings you here today? Surely you’re not here just to ask how I’m feeling, are you?”
“Of course not, Elisia. I’ve come today because I have something I’d like to ask you. ……I hear you’ve been snooping around quite a bit lately.”

Giuseppe’s gaze, which had been calm until then, suddenly turned sharp. And, in response, so did Elisia’s.

“Well, word sure travels fast.”
“I do have a few people acting as my eyes and ears, after all. So, what are you up to?”
“Oh, isn’t that only natural? To me, Calcie is like a grandchild. It would be strange if I weren’t curious about what kind of man my grandchild is dating…”
“Hmm… So? In your eyes, how does the prospective Sonny… Tatsumi come across?”
“Well… According to what my trusted subordinates have found out, he seems like a serious and sincere person. But, to be honest… the fact that he’s a bit too serious actually makes me a little wary.”

All the information Elisia had gathered about Tatsumi pointed to one thing: he was undeniably serious.

He heads to the temple early in the morning, and once his duties there are finished, he goes straight home without making any detours.

The fact that an adult man of Tatsumi’s age had never once gone out for drinks with coworkers after work struck Elisia as suspicious.

He was so serious that she wondered if he was deliberately trying to make those around him believe that. That was the doubt Elisia harbored about Tatsumi.

When Elisia voiced that suspicion, Giuseppe burst out laughing, his mouth wide open.

“Ho ho ho ho ho!! My Lord! You were actually worried about something like that! Well, well, that’s just the sort of thing a vixen would think of.”
“Oh? As far as I’m concerned, it would be strange if an old fox like you didn’t notice this.”

Perhaps offended by his loud laughter, Elisia retorted with a huff.

“That’s what you call a difference in common sense.”
“A difference in common sense…?”

Giuseppe, whose laughter had finally subsided, nodded vigorously at Elisia.

“Exactly. You’ve heard from Calcie where Tatsumi came from, haven’t you?”

Elysia nodded at Giuseppe’s question. She, too, knew the fact that Tatsumi had been summoned to Calcedonia from another world.

“The world Tatsumi originally came from… I think I recall it’s called Nippon? I hear that there, Tatsumi is still a child who hasn’t reached adulthood yet.”
“W-wait a minute! I’m pretty sure Tatsumi was 16, right? To be 16 and still not considered an adult…”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s a difference in common sense.”
“So, we’ve been assuming Tatsumi is an adult, but he himself still thinks of himself as a child… is that it?”
“…Or rather, it seems he hasn’t completely shed the customs of his homeland. According to what Tatsumi told me, in the country where he came from, everything—alcohol, tobacco, gambling—is prohibited by law until one reaches adulthood. Of course, there are some who defy the law and secretly indulge in these things, but they seem to be in the minority. I’m told that young people his age in a country called Nippon all lead lives more or less like Tatsumi’s.”
“……So even though his lifestyle might seem too serious to us, from his perspective, it was perfectly normal…?”
“Lifestyle customs naturally change from country to country. And when it comes to another world, it’s only natural that things might be far removed from our common sense, no?”

As if savoring Giuseppe’s words, Elisia slowly closed her eyes. After remaining in that position for a while, deep in thought, she slowly opened her eyes again.

“……So I was just overthinking it…?”

Elisia’s words came out slowly. Hearing them, Giuseppe smiled contentedly.

“I’m very happy that you care so much about Calcie. But why don’t you try trusting him a little more? And if, even after that, you still can’t bring yourself to trust Tatsumi… why not meet him in person? I think you’ll understand him right away once you meet him, even just once.”
“I suppose so… Maybe it’s just a bad habit of mine to always try to pull the strings from behind the scenes.”

As Elisia spoke with a wry smile, Giuseppe laughed his usual “Ho ho ho.”

“That’s only natural. It’s a matter of course for nobles to manipulate others; they only take matters into their own hands as a last resort. Besides, you’re the one who deals with those ever-cautious nobles on a daily basis. It’s no wonder you tend to view things with a cynical eye.”
“You’re right—I have to adjust my approach depending on who I’m dealing with. To have forgotten something like that… perhaps I really have grown senile.”
“Nonsense. It’s a relief you noticed it at all. Some particularly malicious individuals don’t realize it until the very very end.”

Drawn in by Giuseppe’s cheerful laughter, Elisia, too, smiled gently.

But that smile quickly turned tense once more.

“Speaking of malicious individuals… there’s someone else besides me trying to meddle with Tatsumi, you know?”
“Hmm. That’s news to me. So, who is it, and where are they from?”
“The heir to the Count of Galgadon… would that ring a bell?”
“Ah, that foolish son who still persistently proposes to Calcie—the one with no merits other than his lineage…”

Giuseppe seemed to have his own thoughts about Larlaik Galgadon as well, and immediately looked convinced.

“Knowing you, you’ve already taken some sort of action, haven’t you?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of using Larlaik as a litmus test to see whether this young man named Tatsumi is truly the kind of person Calcie says he is…”
“Hmm, since we’re on the subject. Let’s go ahead and teach some fool of a son a lesson. I feel a bit bad for Sonny, but if it’s to put an end to Calcie’s worries, I’m sure he’ll understand. Hmm, you know, I might want to partake in this game.”

Seeing Giuseppe grin like a child who’d just thought of a prank, Elisia, too, let out a knowing smile.

.

After several teleportations, Tatsumi found himself back at the front door of his own home.

He unlocked the door with the magic key using the password and stepped inside.

Inside, the fireplace was lit, making the house very warm.

Just as he exhaled in relief at the comforting warmth, took off his winter coat, and stepped into the living room, a thudding impact struck him from behind.

—Could someone be lying in wait?

Recalling the men from earlier, Tatsumi turned his head around with a stern expression.

Then, he saw the platinum-blonde hair he’d grown quite accustomed to seeing lately bobbing up and down.

“Um… Chiiko…?”
“Yes, it’s me. Hehe. Did I startle you?”

Calcedonia wrapped her arms around Tatsumi from behind, a beaming smile on her face.

It seemed she had been hiding in the shadows by the door leading to the living room, trying to surprise him. She must have sensed the magical energy when he teleported.

“? Is something wrong?”

But, perhaps sensing something from Tatsumi’s expression, Calcedonia tilted her head slightly.

When you think about it calmly, it’s practically impossible for anyone to lie in wait in this house.

All the locks in this house are enchanted, and ordinary thieves couldn’t possibly open them. Furthermore, since the unlocking password is set in Japanese, the only people who can actually unlock them are Tatsumi and Calcedonia—who, thanks to their memories from their past lives, can understand everyday conversation.

Realizing this, Tatsumi finally relaxed his body.

Then, to Calcedonia, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression, he explained what had happened on his way to the temple today.

“…Oh dear. So, does that mean someone is targeting you, Master…?”
“…I think so. But I can’t think of anyone who would have a reason to target me……”

In this world, Tatsumi still doesn’t know many people. He couldn’t think of any reason why anyone would be targeting him.

No, if there were one, it would be just this one.

“…Maybe those guys are your followers, Chiiko?”

The fact that Tatsumi lives with Calcedonia has already become quite well-known.

If the men he encountered today were followers of the Holy Maiden, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were targeting him out of spite.

“Hmm… If that’s the case, I wonder what I should do from here on out… Well, if it’s just a matter of running away, I’m confident I could outrun them no matter how far.”

Given Tatsumi’s magical abilities, it would be extremely difficult to capture him. Unless he’s trapped in a space completely devoid of mana or locked in a completely isolated room with no windows or doors, it’s impossible to keep him confined.

“I’ll discuss that matter with Grandfather tomorrow. But more importantly—”

Chalcedonia grabbed Tatsumi’s arm and pulled him over to the fireplace.

“You’re completely frozen, Master.”
“Well, that’s because… I was lying out in the snow, after all…”
“If you don’t warm up soon, you’ll catch a cold! …Eei!!”
“Whoa!?”

Chalcedonia wrapped her arms around Tatsumi’s back once more as he settled down in front of the fireplace to warm himself.

“…How is it? Are you warm…? ”
“Y-yeah… It’s really warm… Thanks, Chiiko.”

Seeing Tatsumi’s flushed face and shifting gaze, Calcedonia chuckled softly and gently pressed her cheek against his from behind.

For a moment, they forgot about the shadows surrounding them and, in a sense, were back to their usual selves.